Surgical tool compensates for imperceptible hand tremors

For doctors specialising in fine-scale surgery, such as operating inside the human eye or repairing microscopic nerve fibres, freehand tremors can pose a serious risk for patients.

By harnessing a specialised optical-fibre sensor, the new tool reportedly makes corrections at a rate that is quick enough to keep the surgeon’s hand on target.

According to a statement, researchers from the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) Whiting School of Engineering and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, have combined the optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging technique as a distance sensor with computer-controlled piezoelectric motors to actively stabilise the tip of a surgical tool.

A paper describing the new device, named SMART (Smart Micromanipulation Aided Robotic-Surgical Tool), has been published in the Optical Society’s open-access journal Optics Express.

‘Microsurgery relies on excellent motor control to perform critical tasks,’ said Cheol Song, a postdoctoral fellow in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at JHU. ‘But certain fine micro-manipulations remain beyond the motor control of even the most skilled surgeon.’